| Institution: | 1. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling Shaanxi, 712100, China;2. Scientific Laboratory of Heyang Agricultural Environment and Farmland Cultivation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Northwest A&F University, Heyang Shaanxi, 714000, China;3. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Piazzale delle Cascine 28, 50144, Florence, Italy;4. Department of Soil Science, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, Sindh, 70060, Pakistan;5. Department of Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemedelska 3, 61300, Brno, Czech Republic;6. Cairo University, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Giza, Egypt;7. Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia;8. University of Wuppertal, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Institute of Foundation Engineering, Water- and Waste-Management, Laboratory of Soil- and Groundwater-Management, Pauluskirchstraße 7, 42285, Wuppertal, Germany;9. International Research Centre of Nanotechnology for Himalayan Sustainability (IRCNHS), Shoolini University, Solan, 173212 Himachal Pradesh, India;10. King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment, and Arid Land Agriculture, Department of Arid Land Agriculture, 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia;11. University of Kafrelsheikh, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil and Water Sciences, 33516, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt;12. Cairo University, Faculty of Agriculture, Soil Science Department, Giza, 12613, Egypt |
| Abstract: | Land use changes profoundly affect the equilibrium of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions. With the current global climatic changes, it is vital to understand the influence of ecological restoration and conservation management on the dynamics of SOC under different land uses, especially in erosion-endangered Loess soils. Therefore, we investigated changes in SOC through a suit of labile fractions, namely: light fraction organic C (LFOC), heavy fraction organic C (HFOC), coarse particulate organic C (CPOC), fine particulate organic C (FPOC), and dissolved organic C (DOC), from two forests i.e., Robinia pseudoacacia (RP) and Platycladus orientalis (PO), with different ages, in comparison with farmland (FL). The SOC and STN contents significantly increased over 42 years in the RP forest where the contents of CPOC and FPOC were significantly higher than in the FL. Moreover, total SOC and its labile fractions, in the studied land use types, significantly correlated with soil CaCO3, pH, and STN contents, indicating their key roles in SOC sequestration. The results reported here from different vegetation with different ages provide a better understanding of SOC and STN alterations at different stages of vegetation restoration. Our findings suggest that long-term natural vegetation restoration could be an effective approach for SOC sequestration and soil conservation on the Loess soil. |
